Apparatuses, systems and methods for providing acquisition feedback

Abstract

User feedback on acquisition of ultrasound data may be provided to a user. The feedback may indicate a quality of the acquisition and/or the reliability of the measurements calculated from the ultrasound data, for example, the volume flow measurements calculated from Doppler data. Various quality factors such as a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), motion, Doppler angle, vessel size, vessel depth, and/or variance in velocity values may be determined to provide an indication of quality of the acquisition. The quality factors may be provided individually or in combination. In some examples, one or more quantitative values of the quality factors may be provided. In some examples, one or more qualitative indications of the quality of the acquisition may be provided.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An ultrasound imaging system configured to provide feedback on a quality of volume flow measurements, the system comprising:
 a user interface; 
 a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions and configured to store power Doppler data for a plurality of Z-surfaces of a volume including a region of interest (ROI); and 
 at least one processor in communication with the non-transitory computer readable medium configured to execute the instructions, wherein when executed, the instructions cause the at least one processor to:
 generate a histogram for individual ones of the plurality of Z-surfaces based, at least in part, on the power Doppler data, wherein the histogram has a first curve based on the power Doppler data from within the ROI and a second curve based on the power Doppler data from outside the ROI; 
 calculate a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by subtracting in the logarithmic scale a peak of the second curve from a peak of the first curve for at least one of the plurality of Z-surfaces; and 
 generate a quality factor based, at least in part, on the SNR; 
 generate display data for a quality indicator based, at least in part, on the quality factor, wherein the quality indicator is indicative of the quality of the volume flow measurements, 
 
 wherein the user interface is configured to display the quality indicator to a user based on the display data. 
 
     
     
       2. The ultrasound imaging system of  claim 1 , wherein the quality indicator comprises text indicating a value of the SNR. 
     
     
       3. The ultrasound imaging system of  claim 1 , wherein the quality indicator comprises a graphic including a color, wherein the color is based, at least in part, on a value of the SNR. 
     
     
       4. The ultrasound imaging system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:
 calculate the SNR for every Z-surface of the plurality of Z-surfaces; and 
 calculate at least one of a median SNR or a mean SNR of the plurality of Z-surfaces, wherein the quality factor is based on at least one of the median SNR or the mean SNR. 
 
     
     
       5. The ultrasound imaging system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:
 calculate the SNR for every Z-surface of the plurality of Z-surfaces; 
 calculate an interquartile range median (IQR/M) for each of a plurality of groups of Z-surfaces, wherein individual ones of the plurality of groups of Z-surfaces include a subset of the plurality of Z-surfaces; 
 determine a group of the plurality of groups of Z-surfaces having a minimum IQR/M; and 
 calculate at least one of a median SNR or a mean SNR of the group of the plurality of groups of Z-surfaces, wherein the quality factor is based on at least one of the median SNR or the mean SNR. 
 
     
     
       6. The ultrasound imaging system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:
 calculate the SNR for every Z-surface of the plurality of Z-surfaces; 
 calculate a coefficient of variation (COV) for each group of a plurality of groups of Z-surfaces, where wherein individual ones of the plurality of groups of Z-surfaces include a subset of the plurality of Z-surfaces; 
 determine a group of the plurality of groups of Z-surfaces having a minimum COV; and 
 calculate at least one of a median SNR or a mean SNR of the group of the plurality of groups of Z-surfaces, wherein the quality factor is based on at least one of the median SNR or the mean SNR. 
 
     
     
       7. The ultrasound imaging system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one Z-surface comprise a plurality of Z-surfaces proximate to a focus of an ultrasound beam used to collect the power Doppler data. 
     
     
       8. The ultrasound imaging system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:
 generate at least one more quality factor, wherein the quality indicator is further based on the at least one more quality factor. 
 
     
     
       9. The ultrasound imaging system of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one more quality factor includes at least one of a presence of motion, a Doppler angle, a vessel size, a vessel depth, or a variance of the volume flow measurements within the ROI. 
     
     
       10. The ultrasound imaging system of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:
 generate second display data for a suggestion for improving the quality of the volume flow measurements, based at least in part, on the quality factor and the at least one more quality factor, 
 wherein the user interface is further configured to display the suggestion based on the second display data. 
 
     
     
       11. A method for providing feedback on a quality of volume flow measurements, the method comprising:
 generating a histogram from power Doppler data for individual ones of a plurality of Z-surfaces in a volume of a subject, wherein the histogram has a first curve based on the power Doppler data from within a region of interest (ROI) and a second curve based on the power Doppler data from outside the ROI; 
 calculating a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by subtracting in the logarithmic scale a peak of the second curve from a peak of the first curve for at least one of the plurality of Z-surfaces; and 
 generating a quality factor based, at least in part, on the SNR; 
 generating display data for a quality indicator based, at least in part, on the quality factor, wherein the quality indicator is indicative of the quality of the volume flow measurements; and 
 displaying the quality indicator to a user based on the display data. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising calculating at least one more quality factor, wherein the quality indicator is further based on the at least one more quality factor. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one more quality factor includes at least one of a presence of motion, a Doppler angle, a vessel size, a vessel depth, or a variance of the volume flow measurements within the ROI. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising generating a suggestion for improving the quality of the volume flow measurements, based at least in part, on the quality factor and the at least one more quality factor. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the suggestion comprises a graphic indicating at least one of a movement or a position of an ultrasound probe when a Doppler angle is determined to be greater than or equal to a threshold value. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the suggestion comprises prompting the user to select a new ROI or adjust an imaging parameter when a ROI size is determined to be below or equal to a threshold value. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the suggestion comprises prompting the user to select a new ROI or adjust an imaging parameter when a ROI depth is determined to be greater than or equal to a threshold value. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the suggestion comprises prompting the user to hold a probe still or the subject to hold still when a presence of motion is detected. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the quality indicator provides a qualitative indication of the quality of the volume flow measurements. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the quality indicator provides a quantitative indication of the quality of the volume flow measurements.